‘Dollar by Dollar,’ Activists Raise Aid for El Salvador

Despite chilly winds and ominous clouds, a fund-raiser for victims of recent earthquakes in El Salvador drew more than 400 people to Centennial Regional Park in Santa Ana on Sunday afternoon.

Latinos from Santa Ana to San Salvador were on hand to buy raffle tickets and Salvadoran corn cakes known as pupusas. Bands donated their time and restaurants donated food.

The event was organized by Salvadoran residents of Santa Ana and the Salvadoran consulate there. One of the organizers, Omar Perez, estimated that $5,000 was raised.

El Salvador has experienced three earthquakes in two months, including one Saturday that killed at least one person.

Perez had already raised $3,000 and brought it to his hometown of San Miguel Tepezontes, where all but four homes were flattened in an earthquake Tuesday.

The death toll of that 6.6-magnitude earthquake was 274, with 2,432 injuries and nearly 15,000 homes destroyed.

One of Perez’s cousins died, and his uncle is hospitalized with several injuries.

“We’re doing everything we can possibly do to get aid to El Salvador. It’s a very difficult thing to do, but we are doing it, dollar by dollar,” he said.

Raquel Garcia, who is Cuban, also withstood the cold to attend and watch her grandchildren perform.

“It’s the least we can do. I really feel for the Salvadorans. I have friends from the country, and I know what they are going through is very difficult,” said Garcia, who donated $50.

Alfredo Corado, who emigrated from San Salvador to Santa Ana two years ago, bought two raffle tickets at $10 each.

“You think about the poor people, about the children, about the old people,” the factory worker said, shivering in the brisk wind. “They are suffering so much, and we have so much here.”